prototyping the user experience

January 29, 2009

Real learning occurs at the point where theory and practice meet. As
the saying goes, "I've learned it the hard way". And learning things
the hard way is always humbling.

It
has been a goal of mine to continually innovate. Innovation creates
demand - which is what drives economies. It is only when something
innovative is created that we discover we actually need it. I have had
the experience of innovating inside large companies and through my own
start-up. What my experience has taught me... is that large companies
have an extremely difficult time innovating inside or out.

The
classic challenge inside large companies is for the business units to
think beyond the coming quarter, next model or feature. While they race
to capture the revenue stream that exists today, new entrants disrupt
the market. Often, companies will have R&D groups that are flush
with innovative ideas but completely disconnected from the business
units. One of the ways to overcome this is to have the R&D group
and the business unit agree on a time frame and a shared vision. The
R&D group can then go off and execute in line with that vision,
with the business unit's buy-in. This is important inside a large
company - but buy-in alone does not equate with successful innovation.

The
challenge outside is different. Sometimes, large companies approach
small start-ups to see how they can benefit from each other. This can
be a very risky proposition for a start-up. You must be hyper aware of
the fact that everything is going to take much longer than you
anticipate. Alternatively, large companies should be very careful about
engaging small start-ups. If you are a large company thinking about
approaching a start-up, make sure you have a clear goal with a set
time-line and budget on hand. If you don't have all these things,
please don't waste their time. Time is the life-blood of a start-up.

As
a small start-up, you have to be ruthless about how much time you are
willing to invest in a potential partnership. Be very clear about what
your expectations are. If the conversation does not unfold according to
plan - deadlines are missed, calls are pushed back, more information is
requested - stop. Refocus on where you are going and move things
forward on your own path. Set a hard time-line with a definable goal -
and if you don't meet eye-to-eye with your potential partner, let go.

So
what is the path of innovation? It's taken me a lot of time and money
to come to what I believe is a better understanding. First of all, big
ideas start small. Now, I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't think big
- thinking big is critical for innovation - but you must scale back
what you attempt as the first iteration. Find the essence of the idea
by removing complexity. Start with this essence and scale-up according
to the real data you collect from the implementation of your idea.

Second
innovation requires a small inspired team or individual. In many ways,
this is the most difficult part to get right. People are complicated -
often, they can't help but make things even more complicated for
themselves. You have to know that everyone on the team respects each
other. The wrong person can poison your team and lead you astray.
Innovating should be joyful. I don't know how many times I was put on a
team in a large company and thought to myself, "I would never choose to
work with these people". As an aside - if you haven't heard of
non-violent communication, please Google it. In general, people can
really afford to learn how to understand and express their needs
better. The big lesson here is to always take responsibility for what
happens to you and accept that you always have a choice - nobody but
you is to blame.

I have to admit I've been an innovation snob. I
have had this misguided belief that innovation happens in the sleek and
shiny black, silver, and reflective surfaces of corporate R&D labs
- or somewhere in the 5 feet between my bed and my desk, in my
home-based start-up. But innovation happens on the street. It happens
wherever there is the immediate potential for money to exchange hands.
Of course, you need to think about what's desirable and what's feasible
- but you must not forget what is viable. All three have to be present
from the inception. I live close to LA's fashion district. Strolling
past the shop vendors selling garments, you will notice that they're
constantly yelling out their offers. It's a dynamic marketplace that is
super efficient and in order to succeed, you have to sell - and sell
now. The global pace of innovation has made the world into a bazaar. If
you fancy yourself an innovator, you don't have much time to dream up
your ideas, refine them and coddle them. You need to know if they sell
or not. Innovation is about generating a small revenue stream to start
with and then iterating on it. If you're a large company, your best
approach to innovation may be spinning off teams. You need to find the
right people willing to take the risk and let them break free of
corporate bureaucracy.

Iterate on your idea. Iterate on your
team. Iterate on the implementation. Iterate on your revenue stream.
Iterate and improvise. I really enjoy musical metaphors - I can't stop
thinking about large companies as faded-out pop stars from yesteryear.
They're still getting their residuals, but they're burnt out. Some of
them still make decent music, but they've become so big that they're
like gigantic marching bands - very impersonal. Everyone thinks and
acts the same inside the organization and everyone is counting on the
band leader. A good place for innovation is a small jazz band. The
musicians respect each other, share the joy of music making, improvise,
and speak the same shared language - yet each voice is unique to its
instrument. If you want to innovate, be in that jazz band - and make
certain that it's got gigs.